Would you turn back to Romans
chapter 16 and look at the statement in
verse 25, the revelation of the mystery. This book is God's revelation
of himself. Divinely inspired. If we don't
have that, what do we have? My opinion, your opinion. We
have nothing. But this book is God's revelation
of himself. And you and I cannot understand
a word of it unless he is pleased by his spirit to reveal to us
what he says in his word. The revelation of the mystery. Without the revelation of this
mystery, Could you have ever even dreamed or figured out that
God was one God in three distinct persons? God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Would you have known that God
elected a people without this revelation before time began? Would you have known that the
elect have always been united to Jesus Christ from the foundation
of the world? And that while my birthday was
9-9-59, I still have always had eternal existence in Christ. Now, I can't grasp that in any
way, but I believe it. one with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Could you have ever known without this revelation of the mystery?
Could you have ever known how God can be just and justify people
who are unjust in a way that magnifies his justice? Could you have even known that
he was just in the first place? These are mysteries that are
revealed. We could never have known them
had they not been revealed. Now, mystery is not something
we do not know. That's the way we use it in everyday
language. When we say it's a mystery to me, we say, I don't know.
That's what I mean by that. It's a mystery to me. I don't
know the answer to that. But that's not what the Bible means
by mystery. A mystery is something that we
would never have known had not God been pleased to make it known. Let me give you Vine's Greek
Dictionary's definition of mystery in the scriptures. That which
is outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension and can
only be known by divine revelation given only to those who are illuminated
by the Holy Spirit. It's a good definition. A mystery is not knowledge withheld,
but truth revealed. I think of when the Lord said
to His disciples, it's given to you to know the mysteries
of the kingdom, but unto them it is not given. I thank thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, because you've hid these things. Who
hid them? God did. You've hid these things
from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. Even
so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. Remember what he said to Peter
after Peter said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living
God. He said, blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, flesh and blood
didn't reveal this to thee, but my father, which is in heaven. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4,
7, let a man so account of us as stewards of the mysteries
of Christ. That's how I want you to view
me, Paul said, a steward, just a servant of the mysteries of
Christ. He said in 1 Corinthians 2, 7,
we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom,
which God kept secret from the foundation of the world. He said
in Ephesians 3, verse 3, by revelation, he made known to me the mystery. In Ephesians 3, 9, He said, by
revelation he made known with me the mystery. And he spoke
in Ephesians 3, 9 of the fellowship of the mystery. And in Colossians
2, 2 of the acknowledgement of the mystery. And he asked the
saints in Ephesians 6, 19 to pray for him that I may open
my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. You see how prominent this is
in the scripture? He said to the Colossians, pray that God
would open a door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ,
for whom I'm an ambassador in bonds, that I may make it manifest
as I ought to speak. Now this mystery had been kept
secret. Who kept it secret? God did. But now it's made manifest by
the scriptures of the prophets. Notice the language in Romans
16, 25, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept
secret since the world began, but now is made manifest by the
scriptures of the prophets. You take the Old Testament. Here's
an example of what he's saying, the Old Testament. Would you
have read Genesis chapter 16? where Sarah said to Abraham,
we need to do our part. God's promise is not gonna come
to pass unless we do our part. So here's what you need to do,
my servant Hagar. Go into her, we'll have a baby
through Hagar and thus God's promise will come to fruition
because we've done our part. Abraham said, okay. He went into
Hagar and they had a son by the name of Ishmael. And God said,
that's not the son of the promise. He's going to come through Isaac,
or he's going to come through Sarah. And that's how Sarah had
already gone through menopause. There was a supernatural birth
and she had Isaac. Very interesting story in Genesis
16. And then Sarah ends up getting
mad at Hagar and Israel and says, cast out the bond woman and her
son. And God said, you do what she said to do. Now that's an
unusual story. Would you have ever even guessed
that that story was about the two covenants? Unless God was
pleased to make that known in the scriptures. These are the
two covenants. I would have read that and I
would have thought, this is a weird story. I wouldn't have understood
that this is given to illustrate the gospel. Abraham, Sarah said,
we've got to be responsible. We've got to do our part. You
go into Hagar. We'll do our part, and then God
can do his. And God calls that Mount Sinai, the covenant of
works. If salvation is in any way dependent upon you doing
something, that means it works. And would we have known that
without the scripture? This is all according to the command
of God for the obedience of faith, and more on that next week. But
with regard to every one of these mysteries, and everything in
the scripture, really, is mystery. It's something we would have
never known had not God been pleased to make it known. We
just wouldn't have known it. Like I said, would you have ever
dreamed that God is one God and three distinct persons? God the
Father, God the Son, God the... No! Wouldn't have ever come into
your mind. Would you have ever known how
God can be just and completely righteous and yet justify the
ungodly? You would have never known that
had not God been pleased to make it known. And even if it's clear
in the scriptures, you won't understand it and I won't understand
it unless God is pleased to illuminate our hearts and teach us what
it means. Now there are many mysteries
in the scripture, but I'm going to give you the ones that are
called mysteries. The revelation of the mystery. The first one I found is in Ephesians
1 9 where we read of the mystery of his will. The mystery of his will. How
many times have you heard religious people say I'm trying to find
God's will for my life. Everybody say that. I'm trying
to find God's will for my life. Well regarding all that kind
of stuff I don't know. I don't know. What's gonna happen
tomorrow, I don't know. What you're gonna do, I don't know.
That's really unimportant. But I know God's will. You know how I know? He's made
it known in his word. The Lord said, I came down from
heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent
me. And this is the will of him that
sent me. Now you want to know what God's
will? Here it is. This is the will of him that sent me, that
of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but raise
it again at the last day. It is God's will for all the
elect to be saved by Jesus Christ. Amen. And we love it that way. the mystery of his will. We would
have never known that had he not made it known, though. When
Ananias came to Paul, he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen
thee that thou should know his will. I know the will of God,
and so does every other believer. I know it's God's will for everybody
that Jesus Christ represented to be saved. He said that in
his words. And then in 1 Timothy 3.9 we
read of the mystery of the faith. The mystery of the faith. The mystery of the triune God
in their part in salvation, God electing, Christ redeeming, and
God the Holy Spirit giving life. How would we have ever known
that without the Word of God? We would have needed the mystery
of the suretyship of Christ, where He took full responsibility
for my salvation before the foundation of the world. How would I have
ever known that He's surety? Hadn't the Bible told me that
He's the surety of the better covenant? I think of the mystery
of His incarnation when God became flesh. I think of the mystery
of His life, how He lived His life as a representative. I love
that passage of Scripture in Matthew 3, verse 15, where the
Lord says to John the Baptist, Thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. Everything Jesus Christ did,
He did as in us. When He did it, I did it too.
And I love the mystery of His death, how it's a redeeming death,
how He actually put away sin by His death. When He said it
is finished, sin was blotted out, canceled. Oh, the mystery
of His resurrection when He was raised from the dead, raised
for our justification. When He opened His eyes in life,
every one of His people opened their eyes in life in Him. He
was justified and everybody He represented was justified. Oh,
the mystery of the faith. The just, the scripture says,
the justified shall live by faith. You know what that means? I wish I could explain it as
simply as it needs to be explained. It means that I'm trusting Jesus
Christ as everything in my salvation. That's what it means. I'm not
looking for a thing out of myself. I'm looking to him for everything. That's what the just should live
by faith. Now to Abel, this was revealed. To Cain, it was concealed. He didn't see this. You know,
they were taught the same things. They had the same teacher. But
Abel saw the glory of this. The glory of being saved by Christ. He knew that blood of that lamb
that he presented wasn't saving him. He knew what that blood
pointed to. The coming Lord Jesus Christ. He believed on Christ
just the way me and you do. Cain was as blind as a bat, heard
the same things, but he was blind as a bat and couldn't see. You
think of those two thieves on the cross. Well, they heard the
same things. Both of them heard the seven
sayings of the Savior from the cross. They both heard these
things. One saw no glory in Him. The
truth was concealed from him. He didn't see any beauty in this.
But, oh, that other thief looked at him and said, Lord, you're
going to come back as a mighty reigning king when you come,
remember me. Why? The truth was revealed to
him. Oh, the mystery of the faith. And I love this passage of Scripture
in 1 Timothy 3.16. Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. True story. Two brothers were
preachers, both of them. One of the brothers denied the
deity of Christ, and he asked his brother to preach. He said,
I want you to preach, but I don't want you to bring up anything
controversial. He agreed, and he got up and read this text.
Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God
was manifest in the flesh. justified by the Spirit of God. Everything he did brought complete
justification to his people. Scene of angels. They watched
every moment of this. I love to think of angels watching
the Lord. They were always amazed. They didn't know what he was
doing. They were just dumbfounded as they saw what the Lord did. Preached to the Gentiles. That's
a mystery. That somebody like me or you
get to hear the gospel. Isn't that amazing? That you have and
I have the privilege, the blessing of hearing the gospel. Believed
on in the world. Y'all believe everything in this
book. I do. I believe it all. That's what
believers do, isn't it? They believe. Believed on. That's a mystery that I believe. Amazing. And received up in the
glory. than Ephesians chapter five.
Go ahead and turn with me there. I'm quoting these, I know, but
I'm gonna say a few things from this passage I want you to see. Verse 32, now Paul had been speaking
of marriage and the responsibilities of the husband to the wife and
the wife to the husband. And then he makes this statement,
verse 31, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother
and shall be joined unto his wife and they too shall be one
flesh. This is a great mystery. But
I'm not talking about men and women getting married. I'm talking
about Christ and the church. I love what he said in verse
27, that he might present it to himself
a glorious church, not having wrought, spot, or wrinkle, or
any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that
loveth his wife loveth himself. Now, for many years, when I would
read that, I would think, yeah, you're better off if you love
your wife. You're the one that benefits from it. She'll treat you a lot
better. But that doesn't have anything to do with what this
passage is saying. When Christ loved his bride, he was loving
Himself. Because every believer is so
united to the Lord Jesus Christ that we are Himself. United to Him. Now, would you
have ever known anything about this mystery had not God been
pleased to make it known? Near, so near to God, nearer
I cannot be. In the person of His dear Son,
I'm as near to God as He right now. Dear, so dear to God, dearer
I cannot be. For in the person of his dear
son, I'm as dear to God as he. However pleased God is with Christ,
that is how pleased he is with every believer. Now would we
have ever known this had not the holy word of God made it
known. Colossians 127, to whom God would
make known the riches of the glory of this mystery, which
is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now that's a mystery. Christ himself indwelling every
believer by his spirit. Now what's that look like? What's that look like? Christ
in you, the hope of glory. I believe this scripture will
help. In Galatians chapter two, verse 20, Paul said, I live,
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life, the life,
the spiritual life, that I now live in the flesh, I live by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me." Now, here's what that means. I believe, but that didn't come from me.
I don't give my free will for credit. It's Christ in me. It's caused by Him. I love God,
and I know why. Christ liveth in me. I hate sin. I hate my sin. And I know why. Christ liveth
in me. I repent. I repent every day. I change my mind every day about
everything with regard to myself. Repentance is a continual thing.
And I know why I do that. because Christ lives in me. I love that passage in Galatians
1 15 where Paul said, when a pleased God who separated me from my
mother's womb and called me by his grace to reveal his son in
me. That's so important. He didn't
say to reveal his son to me. If all Christ is revealed to
me, I'll lose it. He revealed him me. What a mystery. Christ in you,
the hope of glory. Turn to Revelation chapter one, verse 20. The mystery of the
seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven
golden candlesticks, the seven stars are the angels of the seven
churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven
churches. Look in chapter 2, verse 1, unto
the angel of the church at Ephesus write, these things saith he
that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh
in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. Now you know what
that means? That means Christ is walking in our midst right
now. The golden candlesticks? A local
church. Seven local churches are mentioned.
And Christ said, I'll walk in their midst. And the pastor is
called his angel, whom he holds in his right hand. Now, what
we're doing right now, people meet together and listen
to a fool like me. That's the mystery of Christ's
presence. And do you know that the most intimate personal communion
you will ever have with the Lord Jesus Christ is during public
worship? The Lord made it that way. That's
the way he is. And he makes himself known through
the preaching of the word. Now what's going on right now
is a mystery revealed. People sitting there listening
to you. What gives? Somebody can look
at me and say, what makes you think people are listening to
you? No, nothing. Nothing. I don't, I don't. But I know this God speaks this
word. And I know I'm a Whatever you think of yourself,
that's what I think of myself. Unless you think good stuff about
yourself. If you think good stuff about yourself, well, I'm not
with you there. But I hope nobody thinks good
stuff about themselves. But the point is, this is a mystery.
What we're doing right now is a mystery revealed. The preaching
of the gospel. Christ is here. He's promised
where two or three are gathered together in my name. There I
am in their midst. Now, he doesn't promise anything
with regard to, well, I'm going to read the Bible today and I'm
going to pray. Well, you should. Good. You ought to do it. I ought
to do it. but he only promises his special presence and blessing
in public worship. And that's a mystery. And then
in Romans 11, 25, he says, I would not have you ignorant of this
mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits that blindness
has happened in part into the fullness of the Gentiles come
in, so all Israel should be saved. Now, he says, I want you to know
this mystery. so you won't be wise in your
own conceits. The mystery that blindness has
happened to the Jews, Israel, that the Gentiles might hear
the gospel, and so all Israel shall be saved. I want you to
be Cognizant of this mystery for this reason. I don't want
you to be wise in your own conceits and think God's doing this for
you because you're so good and he's passing by the Israelites
because you're better than them. Don't be wise in your own conceits.
This mystery is given so that we wouldn't be. I want you to
understand that. And then we read in 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2 verse 7 of the mystery of iniquity. the mystery of iniquity. As a matter of fact, that entire
second chapter is devoted to the mystery of iniquity. He works,
but the Lord restrains him and withholds him. And more is said
about that mystery of iniquity. It's talking about religion,
the man of sin, but turn with me to Revelation chapter 17. These are related. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, 1 John
chapter 4, where John is talking about the Antichrist coming and
their message, many Antichrists. And remember this, anti doesn't
mean against. It means instead of, in the place
of. The Antichrist is not someone
who's going to present himself as against Christ. He's going
to present himself as Christ, in the place of Christ. Now look
at this passage in Revelation chapter 17. And there came one
of the seven angels, which had the seven vials, and talked with
me, saying unto me, Come hither, I will show unto thee the judgment
of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters, with whom the
kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants
of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and
I saw a woman. set upon a scarlet-colored beast,
full of names of blasphemy, and having seven heads and ten horns.
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and
decked with gold and precious stones, and pearls, having a
golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and filthiness
of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name-written
mystery, Babylon the Great. the mother of harlots and abominations
of the earth. And I saw the woman drunken with
the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
And when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. Do you see religion as this great
harlot? Can you see that? You know, a
lot of people respect religion. Can you see this as the flattering
woman of Proverbs? The great harlot and mother of
all abominations? Many treat her with great respect.
And if you see her for what she is, you know why? God has revealed
that to you. Isn't that a blessing? To see
this mystery and know it for what it is and not be deceived
by it. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15. I think this is one of the most
majestic passages of scripture in all the word of God. Verse 51. Behold, I show you a mystery. This is something you would have
never known and I would never have known had not God being
pleased to make it known. You remember in Ephesians chapter
3 where he said, God gave me the revelation of this mystery.
He gave me this. How come I know this? Paul was
brought up in the third heavens and taught the gospel directly
by the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where he gets this understanding
of this mystery. Verse 51. Behold, I show you
a mystery. We shall not all sleep talking
about death, but we shall all be changed. in a moment. in the twinkling of an eye at
the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall
be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
put on incorruption, when I'm made perfectly conformed to the
image of Christ, no sin, and this mortal shall put on immortality,
true life, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. And the strength of sin is the law. And don't miss that. Somebody says, well, the law
restrains sin. Does it? It's not what the Bible
says. And all I got to do is tell you
what you can't do and what you want to do. Every time. The strength of sin. The power of sin. Is the law. But. Thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in
vain in the Lord. This book is the revelation of
the mystery. Things we would have never known
had not God been pleased to make them known. And the only way
we can know these things is if He, by His Spirit, reveals them
to us. We have the mystery of His will, the mystery of the faith, the
mystery of godliness, the mystery of union with Jesus Christ. The mystery of the stars and
the golden candlesticks. The mystery of the hardening
of Israel to make sure we don't become too proud and wise in
our own conceits. The mystery of iniquity. The
mystery of the great harlot. And the mystery of the resurrection. Now most people don't know anything
about these mysteries, do they? The people you see tomorrow,
how much are they going to know about these mysteries? Now, two
things. Thank God he made himself known
to me. And I want me and you to be faithful
in declaring these mysteries to everybody we come across. The mystery of the gospel. Let's
pray. Lord, we thank you for the revelation of yourself
that you've given us in your word that reveals the Lord Jesus
and his glorious person and his glorious salvation. And Lord,
we know we don't comprehend these mysteries. They're beyond our
comprehension. But Lord, by your grace, we believe
them with all of our heart. And Lord, that's the work of
your grace in us. Now, as we prepare to take the
Lord's table, Lord, give us the grace to do this truly in remembrance
of thy son. In his name we pray, amen.